The Strange Story of ‘Benjaman Kyle,’ the Last Unknown Man

Portrait of Benjaman Kyle a man with dissociative amnesia, drawn by Miguel Endara with 2.1 million ink dots (Rex Features via AP Images)

If you found a naked man passed out outside of a Burger King in the middle of summer, what would you do? This is exactly what an early shift worker was greeted with at the fast-food restaurant in Richmond Hill, Georgia, in August 2004.

After authorities took the man to the hospital, it became clear that he wasn’t sound of mind—and he refused food, lashed out at nurses, and eventually, was declared a catatonic schizophrenic and shipped off to the psych ward.

Months into his stay there, the unnamed man gave himself the name “Benjaman Kyle”—spelling his first name, oddly, with two A’s. By this point, he had endeared himself to the hospital staff, and one nurse in particular had taken him under her wing and attempted to figure out who he really was.

But she came up empty—as did the police, the FBI, journalists, and many others. Even after Dr. Phil came calling—a show which airs to tens of millions of viewers daily—Kyle wasn’t able to be identified.

So who is “Benjaman Kyle”? Find out in this expertly crafted feature from The New Republic here. Below, watch the Dr. Phil segment with Kyle.